There are many different types of essays, but most of them follow a simple structure. Most formal essays are in the THIRD PERSON (i.e. "Throughout Ender's Game by Card, the reader is aware that young people are manipulated by the adults in their lives, though one comes to realise that it is not only the adults who manipulate those around them", and not "When you read this book, you see that not only younp people get manipulated"), although some are in the FIRST person (like personal and autobiographical essays).
There are three parts to all well-crafted essays:
1. Introduction:
This should be a complete paragraph that lets your reader know what the essay is going to be about, and, if possible, why you are writing it. It generally has three major parts:
a hook, to catch the reader's attention at the beginning.
a funnel (linking information that narrows down the topic--can be two or three sentences)
a THESIS STATEMENT--the main point and purpose of the essay.
2. Body:
This is the largest section, made up of several paragraphs. There can be as few as two paragraphs (for a comparison or contrast essay), but most commonly, there are three or more. This is where the main idea of the essay (the THESIS) is explained, discussed, or proven (depending on the type of essay).
Body paragraphs should be linked together by TRANSITIONS, so that they flow, and placed in a logical order. Some common organisational strategies are spatial (if you are describing a physical object or place, you may want to start at the top and work down, or on the left and work to the right, or at the front and work to the back), chronological (if you are describing a series of events, you may want to start with the first thing that happens, and show how it led to the next event, and the next, and so on), and salient (order of importance). When organizing ideas in order of salience, it is usual to use a B, C, A structure (the paragraph that makes your point the best goes at the end, and your weakest argument goes in the middle). This is because people remember best what they read last--so they'll remember your best point. They also remember the first point you make very well--so they'll remember your second-best point, too. You can sort of hide your weakest point in the middle, where it is more likely to be glossed-over.
When you are writing your body paragraphs, you need to be sure that each paragraph is concise (not too wordy) and coherent (each sentence in the paragraph supports the topic sentence of that paragraph).
3. Conclusion:
This is a full paragraph at the end of the essay. It should do three things:
Remind your readers about the point of your essay (your THESIS)
Explain why this should be important to the reader ("Why do we care?")
Leave your reader with something to think about. This last part is very much like your HOOK from the introduction--it may be a quotation, or even a call to action for your audience.
Need some topic suggestions? You can, of course, use anything you came up with in your writing journal, but here is a web page with lots of suggestions for various kinds of essays. Please choose ones that you feel comfortable writing about, and that are appropriate for a Traditional Secondary School! If you are not certain if your topic is appropriate, see me and I can let you know.
There are many different types of essays, but most of them follow a simple structure. Most formal essays are in the THIRD PERSON (i.e. "Throughout Ender's Game by Card, the reader is aware that young people are manipulated by the adults in their lives, though one comes to realise that it is not only the adults who manipulate those around them", and not "When you read this book, you see that not only younp people get manipulated"), although some are in the FIRST person (like personal and autobiographical essays).
There are three parts to all well-crafted essays:
1. Introduction:
This should be a complete paragraph that lets your reader know what the essay is going to be about, and, if possible, why you are writing it. It generally has three major parts:
2. Body:
This is the largest section, made up of several paragraphs. There can be as few as two paragraphs (for a comparison or contrast essay), but most commonly, there are three or more. This is where the main idea of the essay (the THESIS) is explained, discussed, or proven (depending on the type of essay).
Body paragraphs should be linked together by TRANSITIONS, so that they flow, and placed in a logical order. Some common organisational strategies are spatial (if you are describing a physical object or place, you may want to start at the top and work down, or on the left and work to the right, or at the front and work to the back), chronological (if you are describing a series of events, you may want to start with the first thing that happens, and show how it led to the next event, and the next, and so on), and salient (order of importance). When organizing ideas in order of salience, it is usual to use a B, C, A structure (the paragraph that makes your point the best goes at the end, and your weakest argument goes in the middle). This is because people remember best what they read last--so they'll remember your best point. They also remember the first point you make very well--so they'll remember your second-best point, too. You can sort of hide your weakest point in the middle, where it is more likely to be glossed-over.
When you are writing your body paragraphs, you need to be sure that each paragraph is concise (not too wordy) and coherent (each sentence in the paragraph supports the topic sentence of that paragraph).
3. Conclusion:
This is a full paragraph at the end of the essay. It should do three things:
Need some topic suggestions? You can, of course, use anything you came up with in your writing journal, but here is a web page with lots of suggestions for various kinds of essays. Please choose ones that you feel comfortable writing about, and that are appropriate for a Traditional Secondary School! If you are not certain if your topic is appropriate, see me and I can let you know.